{"id":1009,"date":"2005-02-26T11:19:45","date_gmt":"2005-02-26T19:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp\/2005\/02\/an_exchange_with_jason_leopold\/"},"modified":"2019-11-03T11:57:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-03T16:57:03","slug":"an_exchange_with_jason_leopold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/2005\/02\/an_exchange_with_jason_leopold.html","title":{"rendered":"AN EXCHANGE WITH JASON LEOPOLD"},"content":{"rendered":"

My gut reaction<\/span><\/b><\/a> to “Off the Record:\u00a0An Investigative Journalist’s Inside View of DIRTY POLITICS, HIGH FINANCE, and\u00a0CORPORATE SCANDAL,” Jason Leopold’s new book, drew this response from the author and\u00a0led to an extended exchange of messages.<\/p>\n

From: Jason Leopold
\nTo: Jan\u00a0Herman
\nDate: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 <\/strong><\/span><\/span>19:35:11<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/span>I respect\u00a0your opinion. However, your review of my book appeared to be filled with anger. I spent a lot of\u00a0time berating myself for all of the carnage I left behind so I am not quite sure how I am the “sad\u00a0victim of an ego grandstanding to the bitter end.” For a person who cites Burroughs as one of his\u00a0favorite authors I am surprised that you were so repulsed by my book. Moreover, I never\u00a0presented myself as a Hunter S. Thompson or anyone close to him. I’m simply a mild-mannered\u00a0journalist who had a story to tell.<\/p>\n

If it’s the subtitle of my book that was annoying you I suggest you read this past Sunday’s\u00a0NYT Book Review article about subtitles.<\/p>\n

I will continue to read Blogcritics because I love it so much. So no hard feelings. I’m sorry\u00a0that you felt you were misled.<\/p>\n

[Leopold’s Blogcritics reference is to another site where STRAIGHT UP is also\u00a0posted. The Sunday NYT Book Review <\/em>article about\u00a0subtitles<\/em><\/span><\/b><\/a> is by Ben Yagoda, who writes: “They are a sort of\u00a0lottery ticket in the economics of nonfiction book marketing. Publishers throw all kinds of\u00a0elements in them — vogue words and phrases, features of the book the title didn’t get around to\u00a0mentioning, talismanic locutions … in the (almost always) vain hope that something will pay\u00a0off.”]<\/em><\/p>\n

From: Jason Leopold
\nTo: Jan\u00a0Herman
\nDate: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:44:56<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/span>What I\u00a0find fascinating is that people who claim to adore Burroughs, Kerouac, Hunter S., and others like\u00a0them can’t stand to read about someone in the 21st century who is, let’s be honest here, not that\u00a0much different than they were in their time.<\/p>\n

I ask you what’s so different between Hunter S and me? He dropped acid. I snorted coke.\u00a0Burroughs shot heroin (and his wife). I stole CDs. Hunter S. reported on the scandalous Nixon\u00a0administration. I was obsessed with nailing Bush and Enron.<\/p>\n

From: Jan\u00a0Herman\u00a0<jan.herman@gmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To: Jason Leopold
\nDate: Fri, 25 Feb 2005\u00a010:15:26\u00a0<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/span>It was not the drugs that bothered me. Not in the\u00a0least. It was the rampant egomania. You “simply a mild-mannered journalist”? You’re joking, no?<\/p>\n

Burroughs, as I knew him, was not an egomaniac — far from it. I concede that Hunter S.\u00a0Thompson was, but his egomania didn’t put me off. And the Kerouac I like best is the Kerouac of\u00a0“The Vanity of Duloz,” subtitled “The Adventurous Education of a Young Man.” It’s the polar\u00a0opposite of egomania. (It’s also a book so little read that it’s out of print.) [The title actually\u00a0is “Vanity of Duluoz: an adventurous education, 1935-46.”]<\/em><\/p>\n

Can you clarify for me what is happening with the legal issue raised in the Voice article?\u00a0[It wonders whether the threat of a defamation suit will hinder the release of “Off the\u00a0Record.” I’ve seen various publication dates listed, first for February, then for March and now for\u00a0April.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Also, I’d like to post your messages in response to my “review,” including the [blurb] from\u00a0Greg Palast.<\/p>\n

From: Jan\u00a0Herman
\nTo: Jason Leopold
\nDate: Fri, 25 Feb 2005\u00a010:39:48<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span>and about the subtitle of yr book. it’s true that it\u00a0set up expectations that i felt went unfulfilled. for that — if it was yr publisher who came up with it\u00a0— i do apologize. i should have remembered my own chagrin at the subtitle a publisher gave my\u00a0biography of william wyler. i disliked it, thought it created wrong expectations. but i went along\u00a0because the publisher was so dead set on it as a marketing tool. i regretted going along from the\u00a0beginning and even more when some reviewers took me to task for it. so, my apology for\u00a0presuming the subtitle was yours.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

From: Jason\u00a0Leopold
\nTo: Jan Herman
\nDate: Thu, 24 Feb 2005\u00a020:48:17<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span>Why would you\u00a0question the authenticity of an author blurb? That seems petty. However, I’ll provide you with my\u00a0correspondence with Greg.<\/span><\/p>\n

From: Greg Palast
\nSent: Monday, November 29, 2004
\n10:02 PM
\nTo: Brenda Hadenfeldt
\nCc: Jason\u00a0Leopold
\n<\/strong><\/span>“I love this book. I love\u00a0Jason Leopold. When other US reporters were licking Ken Lay’s loafers, Leopold went for\u00a0Enron’s thieving throat. But Leopold is a fool, and a fascinating readable one at that: a journalist\u00a0who insists on real investigative reporting — inside documents, inside sources, hard\u00a0knife-in-the-gut evidence — detective-style reporting that is just about illegal in the USA. In “Off\u00a0The Record,” you’ll get a hard-core story of a true investigative journalist hunted down and\u00a0professionally exterminated, a hero cut down by the lazy fat pricks we call ‘mainstream reporters.’\u00a0The book is worth the price just for exposing the craven toadies of the New York Times who\u00a0open their pages to White House hatchet jobs against offending reporters. Bravo and my personal\u00a0Pulitzer to Jason Leopold. Every journalist in America should read this, then quit or riot.”
\n<\/span>Thanks, Greg<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From: Jason Leopold\u00a0<jasonleopold@hotmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

To: Jan Herman\u00a0<jan.herman@gmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005\u00a010:02:24
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Feel free to post my response.<\/p>\n

Can you give me an example of “rampant egomania”? What in my book, or what have you\u00a0read, heard, anything you can identify that would back up “rampant egomania.” Please point me\u00a0to the page number.<\/p>\n

From: Jason Leopold\u00a0<jasonleopold@hotmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

To: Jan Herman\u00a0<jan.herman@gmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005\u00a010:02:53
\n<\/strong><\/span>I need examples of rampant egomania, not just an opinion,\u00a0but examples.<\/p>\n

From: Jason\u00a0Leopold\u00a0<jasonleopold@hotmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

To: Jan Herman\u00a0<jan.herman@gmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005\u00a010:05:50
\n<\/strong><\/span>Yes, I’ve learned that if my publisher could get away with\u00a0calling my book “Britney Spears” or something irrelevant like that they would because all they\u00a0seem to care about is marketing and sales.<\/p>\n

From: Jan Herman\u00a0<jan.herman@gmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To: Jason\u00a0Leopold\u00a0<jasonleopold@hotmail.com><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005\u00a011:17:13<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>Reviews are opinions, and maybe I should have\u00a0said rampaging narcissism (a syndrome characterized by grandiose delusions) instead of rampant\u00a0egomania. Here are some citations:<\/p>\n

p. 18: “I seem to have this ability to light up a room and become the center of attention in a\u00a0way that attracts people to me like flies to shit. More than that, I have an innocence and a naivete\u00a0that attract people and make them want to help me. There’s a vulnerable sweetness that comes\u00a0through my rough exterior and makes people feel safe around me. You can hear it in my voice\u00a0when I ask questions and you can see it in my eyes when I understand the answer.”<\/p>\n

p. 20: “I naively hope that each time I broke news on the California energy crisis, the other\u00a0reporters covering the story would see me as the next Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein.”<\/p>\n

p: 30: “I danced around the office and started boxing with my reflection in the window. I\u00a0started singing the theme song from Rocky III<\/i>. Then I introduced myself to my imaginary\u00a0audience. “Ladies and gentlemen will you please welcome the undisputed heavyweight champion,\u00a0JASON LEOPOLD.”<\/p>\n

p. 193: “I felt that Fastow and I shared a common bond, not just as Jews but also as\u00a0criminals.” [The reference is to Andrew Fastow, the former chief financial officer of\u00a0Enron.]<\/em><\/p>\n

p. 194: “I led each camp to believe that I was its inside source and the only journalist willing\u00a0to vindicate either of them if they spoke to me exclusively.” [A clever, if unethical tactic,\u00a0but it also illustrates the egomania.]<\/em><\/p>\n

p. 200: “I felt bad, but at that moment I didn’t give a shit about my brother’s second marriage.\u00a0All I cared about was this story and the look of shock on Rebecca’s face when she saw my byline\u00a0on it.” [The Rebecca reference is to a rival reporter.]<\/em><\/p>\n

p. 212: “I felt I’d outdone myself once again. The feeling of power was running through my\u00a0veins. It went straight to my head.”<\/p>\n

p. 213: “When it hit cyberspace it didn’t make a sound. It just sat out there. Two weeks went\u00a0by. No impact. I was frustrated. I wanted some attention. I had started the biggest fire and no one\u00a0seemed to notice that it was burning.”<\/p>\n

p. 215: “I was completely unprepared for and overwhelmed by the firestorm that came about\u00a0as a result of this story. It was burning out of control. Salon celebrated the moment. There was\u00a0talk of awards. I felt like a modern-day version of Woodward or Bernstein.”<\/p>\n

p. 222: “He made me so angry that I started to wonder how I could get my revenge. I\u00a0thought about sending him a dozen pizza pies or mailing him a bag of shit. I went to a web site\u00a0that supposedly sells all kinds of shit, cow shit, dog shit, deer shit, horse shit, and will wrap it up\u00a0in a box with a bow and mail it to your worst enemy without it ever being traced back to you. I
\nsettled on elephant shit, two big logs. But when it came to enter my credit card information, I lost\u00a0my nerve. I told Carr that he had it all wrong about me. I told him I was a star reporter. …”<\/p>\n

p. 230: “Ever since I was a kid I’ve had this uncontrollable desire to protect people from\u00a0persecution.”<\/p>\n

p. 231: “I’ll admit there were times when the only thing I was interested in was advancing my\u00a0own journalism career. Breaking news is a perfect example. Whenever news broke and I was\u00a0nearby, I stopped caring about the people affected. I kept a camera and notebook with me and\u00a0hoped that if I saw a car crash I would be the first one on the scene and report the story and get\u00a0the Pulitzer Prize-winning story. Then<\/i> I’d try to literally save lives and be the hero,\u00a0too.”<\/p>\n

These citations don’t give the anecdotal context of each of them (i.e. the quote from p. 213\u00a0expressing frustration about your story not being noticed. That’s a common feeling for many\u00a0reporters. But then you compare yourself to a pyromaniac. I don’t doubt that you feel you’re being\u00a0totally honest and that you understand your grandiosity is compensation for the many insecurities\u00a0you write about. But I’m not sure you really see how much you’ve rationalized your motives. The\u00a0book shows either how clever and smart you were (which you are) or how foolish and devious\u00a0you were. But the tale is always all about me, me, me — and that wore thin.<\/p>\n

Maybe I’m all wet. And anyway, it’s only one man’s opinion. I wish you the best, too.<\/p>\n

PS: You forgot to answer to my question: What is happening with the legal issue raised in the\u00a0Voice article?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My gut reaction to “Off the Record:\u00a0An Investigative Journalist’s Inside View of DIRTY POLITICS, HIGH FINANCE, and\u00a0CORPORATE SCANDAL,” Jason Leopold’s new book, drew this response from the author and\u00a0led to an extended exchange of messages. From: Jason Leopold To: Jan\u00a0Herman Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:35:11 I respect\u00a0your opinion. However, your review of my book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbvgEs-gh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1009"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36571,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009\/revisions\/36571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}